The
strong, sensitive hands are those of a European studying Massage
at
Baan Hom --the beautiful brown foot that of her Thai teacher!

Traditional Thai Massage
or 'Nuad Boran' needs no introduction. If you are interested in Baan Hom Samunphrai
and have arrived at this point in our website, you certainly won't need to
be persuaded of its value. Instead we have chosen a few images taken very
recently of Maw Hom and her assistants at work in Chiang Mai, both
at her own School and at 'The Association of Licensed Thai Traditional
Healers' where she teaches the growing number of Thai Maw Nuads
(Traditional Medicine Therapists) preparing for the new Ministry of
Public Health exams. These happy therapists learned to do massage in the
family when they were children, but still they have to study hard to get their
government licenses.

Maw Hom teaching Thai
therapists at the Mothers and Children hospital in Chiang Mai. No oil, no special attire, no equipment, no music, not even
cotton
sheets on the thin mats on this Clinic floor. What's special. on the
other hand, is the ease and sense of well-being so obvious in these
professional healers preparing for the new Thai Ministry of Public Health exams.

At Baan Hom Samunphrai, Thai
Traditional Massage is at its purest and most authentic. We offer three forms: the technically rigorous 'Foot Massage'
which takes about an hour, the 'Full Set' which takes about two hours,
and the Full Therapeutic Massage which is open-ended and may last
anywhere from thirty minutes to two hours or more depending on your needs,
your flexibility, and the stage of your injury or problem -- Maw Hom offers diagnostic sessions for those with
special health problems. Manipulation of the so-called 'acupressure
points' and 'energy lines,' for example, is not part of the ordinary
Thai Massage, and many foreigners will not have experienced this kind
of massage before.

The atmosphere is more serious in our massage sala, needless
to say, yet there is still that ease and intimacy that makes Thai
massage such a profound experience. Baan Hom Samunphrai
is very small, just four therapists all from the same
family, and that is very much part of our special quality too. Thai massage
has always been a family art practiced by people you know and
trust.

There
are many schools of Traditional Thai Massage in Thailand, and of
course developments are coming back to Thailand from abroad all the time
as well. On
the left, Maw Hom is working with real Thai patients at a busy local clinic in
town -- no spa trappings here, and at a negligible price -- but the very
same art. The partner on the right is a yoga teacher and therapist from Paris who teaches
at a well-known Massage School for foreigners. Indeed, Nuad
Boran has become global, and Maw Hom is a touchstone for
people from all over the world who want to
learn more about it at its source. Because Thai Massage remains an
essential peoples' way of healing in Thailand even as it becomes a
more and more important 'Alternative'
practice in the West.

Foot Massage is
an elaborate ritual as well as a profound healing
strategy--it is particularly poignant in those hot places in the world where shoes are left outside the door (look on the left and you'll
see!).
Here the massage therapist is 'Bang,' Maw Hom's
sister-in-law -- her two little children, Up and Pop, spice up any activity at Baan Hom Samunphrai!

On the right Acharn
Bang (in green) is teaching Foot Reflexology in a 5 day workshop in
her studio beside our pond. The work requires great concentration, and
you obviously must be able to see what she's doing, so her classes are
restricted to a maximum of 6. Ajarn Bang has designed our Reflexology
Notebook with its 243 photos taken by her husband, Vichian Chaleekanha,
and has also made a 40 minute Demonstration DVD -- she has been showing
it to these students on the iMac just behind her.

Even with our January 1st, 2017 fee increases our charges remain low,
and we do hope our clients will understand just how important it is to
tip our therapists. If a massage is supposed to take about 2 hours and
your therapist works on you for 3 or more, which frequently happens
here, you ought to think of giving a very good tip directly to the
therapist. (If you can't afford more, no one will criticize you, and
a heart-felt wai is very good too. On the other hand, if you can
afford it, don't stint.)

WHAT THE MASSAGESHERPA SAYS:

"Homprang is a serious teacher, protective of what she knows
without being mean or pretentious. The courses at Baan Hom are open
to anyone who would like to learn and can be as short as a week or
as long as a few months. They also run the gamut of Homprang’s
inherited and studied knowledge as a herbalist, midwife, and massage
therapist. It seemed possible she could eradicate pain with her
eyeballs."